BHUBANESWAR: Several senior leaders of the BJP including Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday expressed shock and anguish over vandalisation of clay stoves in the kitchen of Srimandir at Puri.Taking to his Twitter handle, the Union Minister said that he is deeply saddened to hear about the incident. Strongly disapproving of the vandalism, Pradhan said, Shree Jagannath temple is the pride of the Odia people and is the centre of faith and belief of the Hindu community across the globe and termed it “unpardonable.”
Stating that the Lord’s Mahaprasad has a unique relationship with the shrine, he said destruction of the earthen stoves has led to disruption in preparation of Mahaprasad which is unfortunate. The sentiments of Odia people are associated with the Mahaprasad, which is like Amruta (nectar). It is the belief of the Odia people that Goddesses Lakshmi and Hingula dwell in the kitchen of Jagannath temple.
The State government and the Srimandir administration should take the incident seriously and devise precautionary measures so that such an incident does not happen again in the future, he said.Senior leader and former minister Bijoy Mohapatra lashed out at the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and Puri administration for their negligence and demanded strong action against them. Mohapatra said such an incident had never happened in history. “It has deeply hurt the sentiment of devotees. The State government should take immediate steps to punish those who are involved in the act without showing any leniency or mercy,” he said.
Holding the temple administration equally responsible, Mohapatra said this could not have happened had the State government implemented the Supreme Court order regarding Srimandir security. He said the apex court had on November 4, 2019 directed the State government to appoint a permanent temple administrator, carry out such developmental works around the temple that are free from objections and get the temple fund audited by CAG. But none of the court’s orders has been implemented.
National BJP vice-president Baijayant Panda also demanded action against the miscreants. In a tweet he said, the people of Odisha will not forgive those who destroy the stoves in the Srimandir kitchen. The State government not taking any steps to strengthen the security of the temple has put a big question mark on the sincerity of the administration, he said.